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On Monday in Lausanne, Switzerland, Iranian negotiators demanded that their American counterparts explain to them the meaning of the open letter sent to Iranian leaders by 47 Republican U.S. senators. In the letter, the senators declared that any agreement with the current resident of the White House could be modified or nullified by a future president or by Congress. Apparently, their goal was to scuttle the Obama administration's effort to reach a deal to curtail Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Secretary of State John F. Kerry and the other U.S. officials in Switzerland who are trying to make that deal declined to characterize their response to the Iranians, but one might...

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On Monday in Lausanne, Switzerland, Iranian negotiators demanded that their American counterparts explain to them the meaning of the open letter sent to Iranian leaders by 47 Republican U.S. senators. In the letter, the senators declared that any...

President Obama said Tuesday that he would nominate the former head of one of Hawaii's largest banks to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, following criticism from some lawmakers about the lack of community banking experience among the...

Hoping to prevent a government shutdown by opponents of President Obama's immigration plan, House Speaker John A. Boehner floated a proposal Tuesday for funding most of the government — but not the immigration agencies — through the end of the 2015 fiscal...

Any child born in the United States is automatically a U.S. citizen, even if his or her parents are in the country temporarily or illegally. That long-standing guarantee has given rise to one of the many debates over immigration and citizenship that...

The Senate Banking Committee confirmed the nomination of Stanley Fischer, the former president of the Bank of Israel, for the Federal Reserve's No. 2 job and also approved two other nominees to fill seats on the central bank's short-handed...

WASHINGTON -- A proposed overhaul of how the country regulates toxic chemicals came under sharp attack today from officials of California and several other states.
Backers of the bipartisan plan say it would make the public safer by giving the federal...

There are so many to choose from, but these four take the cake. In no particular order:
1. The Vitter amendment. Concocted by David Vitter (R-La.), this majestically cynical measure is based on the common misconception that members of Congress and...

Among the proposals coming from House Republicans this morning to end the shutdown/debt limit standoff is a modified version of the Vitter amendment. I identified this measure Monday as one of the four stupidest proposals to end the crisis.
It's...

WASHINGTON – A key Republican senator has dropped his objection to Gina McCarthy’s confirmation to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, potentially clearing her path as Republicans seek to head off Democratic efforts to change Senate rules that allow...

WASHINGTON — Forget the chicken dinner, the rubbery staple of the political fundraising circuit.
Go alligator hunting with Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) on a Louisiana Bayou Weekend for a campaign donation of $5,000.
Or spend a weekend in Hayward, Wis., for...

WASHINGTON — Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson filed suit Monday to challenge what he called the Obama administration’s abuse of executive authority in issuing rules over how members of Congress and their staff receive coverage under the president’s signature...

WASHINGTON — At her confirmation hearing, Janet L. Yellen demonstrated two qualities that analysts said led to her nomination as the next Federal Reserve chief: a commitment to continuing its aggressive stimulus efforts and a low-key ability to build...

NEW ORLEANS — Mayor Mitch Landrieu strode into a battered city park in the troubled Central City neighborhood one recent Saturday, stopping to clap a boy on the shoulder and watch him twirl a basketball. Wearing jeans, sneakers and a New Orleans Saints...

One of the most interesting things about Weinergate isn't that Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) took photos of a sexual nature and shared them outside of his marriage, but that he was careless enough to send them over the Internet and ...

Two Air Force planes will spray chemicals to help break up the Gulf Coast oil spill, Pentagon officials said Friday as they considered what more the military could do to assist. The two C-130 Hercules cargo planes were staging for ...

Public hearings on the catastrophic gulf oil spill have only just begun, with their myriad opportunities for grandstanding, but more substantive political work is also underway: Federal lawmakers are tossing bills into the hopper to reform the nation's embattl